Clay Town Hall

New Town Offices & Town Court

Programming and design for a new 33,800 SF Town Hall in Clay, New York. The exterior design creates a Town Plaza visible from the road, and the building’s facade expresses the public spaces (i.e. formal brick volume with vaulted ceiling and arched feature window for the Courtroom, glazed areas across from service windows and seating areas for the interior public “galleria”, and porte-cochere and courtroom/employee entrance porch for the arrival points). The building is geographically centered in the Town on a 40-acre parcel adjoining the former Town Hall on Route 31 (Clay’s major east-west corridor); and is the first and most important structure in a large site destined to be a Town center with the addition of several other public buildings in the future.

The linear plan, complemented by the ceremonial plaza, allows for great presence on Route 31, maximizes natural light for the interior spaces and provides clear public way finding along the south galleria. The building width allows the use of gentle pitched roofs with rhythmic counterpoints and generous overhangs articulated by brackets as in traditional public buildings.

The building program accommodates, without compromising functionality for each component, day hours service for all Town Hall public offices, and evening and night hours for the Courtroom and Meeting Room. The building is organized in two levels, providing space for departmental offices and the Town Court on the main level (19,800 SF), and secure fireproof storage for Town records, support spaces and space for future office expansion on the lower level (14,000 SF). The Town Court function is designed to accommodate 250 people in one session or two smaller sessions of up to 120 people each, via a divisible Courtroom / Meeting Room. The circulation of the judges and police arrival with the prisoner is separated and secured by control doors glazed for maximum security and surveillance.

Clay Town Hall

New Town Offices & Town Court

Programming and design for a new 33,800 SF Town Hall in Clay, New York. The exterior design creates a Town Plaza visible from the road, and the building’s facade expresses the public spaces (i.e. formal brick volume with vaulted ceiling and arched feature window for the Courtroom, glazed areas across from service windows and seating areas for the interior public “galleria”, and porte-cochere and courtroom/employee entrance porch for the arrival points). The building is geographically centered in the Town on a 40-acre parcel adjoining the former Town Hall on Route 31 (Clay’s major east-west corridor); and is the first and most important structure in a large site destined to be a Town center with the addition of several other public buildings in the future.

The linear plan, complemented by the ceremonial plaza, allows for great presence on Route 31, maximizes natural light for the interior spaces and provides clear public way finding along the south galleria. The building width allows the use of gentle pitched roofs with rhythmic counterpoints and generous overhangs articulated by brackets as in traditional public buildings.

The building program accommodates, without compromising functionality for each component, day hours service for all Town Hall public offices, and evening and night hours for the Courtroom and Meeting Room. The building is organized in two levels, providing space for departmental offices and the Town Court on the main level (19,800 SF), and secure fireproof storage for Town records, support spaces and space for future office expansion on the lower level (14,000 SF). The Town Court function is designed to accommodate 250 people in one session or two smaller sessions of up to 120 people each, via a divisible Courtroom / Meeting Room. The circulation of the judges and police arrival with the prisoner is separated and secured by control doors glazed for maximum security and surveillance.